Today the State Actuary has issued the LEOFF Merger Study. A copy is available for download from their website or from LEOFF1.Net.

The report runs for 142 pages, but the bulk of that content is information that we have already reviewed and most of it has already been posted on LEOFF1.Net in the various articles we have written on the subject.

My first take on the study is based on a quick review. I have not yet had time to dig deeply. However, it appears to be crafted in such a way that either site of the issue could cite the report of supportive of their position. It does not appear that the report makes any kind of conclusion as a direction reasonable supported by the evidence.

While there is some mention of governance, the report fails in defining the problems inherent with designing a governance system that would be fair or even acceptable to the various stakeholders. By the same token the report fails to address the political complications created by the effort to sneak a merger bill through last session.

Thankfully, the report does include in an appendix the full input of stakeholders and some of those issues were discussed there. It is unfortunate these concerns were not well addressed in the report itself as we know legislators are busy and might tend to skim over the appendixes.
We will be conducting a careful review of the document over the next week and will publish our observations on LEOFF1.Net. Check out the site frequently for any new developments